“A massive, 7.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Taiwan Wednesday morning sent bridges swaying and buried mountainous roads in landslides. ‘The road below my feet suddenly turned into what felt like waves on water,’ said Vincent Tseng, a Hualien resident. Yet, the day after what was the worst quake to hit the Asian island in a quarter century, most residents cannot stop talking about how much worse it could have been.” (Via NPR)
If you would like more context on this matter, please consider Pedro Silva, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the George Washington University. Silva is interested in the development of innovative procedures for the design of civil structures to resist man made as well as natural hazards. One current project he’s working on is addressing the grand challenges in earthquake engineering. Through this work, they’re aiming to develop an innovative structural system capable of resisting large scale earthquakes with minimum or no damage, and thus reducing the probability of collapse and loss of life, as well as implement performance metrics towards achieving immediate occupancy following an earthquake and thus minimizing economic losses.
Silva is an earthquake engineering expert who can speak to earthquakes’ devastating effects on the built environment. He can also discuss more broadly ways in which cities and communities can become more resilient to earthquakes.
If you would like to speak with Prof. Silva, please contact GW Senior Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at [email protected].
-GW-
